The National Waste Strategy

The government's White Paper on a strategy for sustainable waste management within England and Wales - "Making Waste Work" gives the waste hierarchy giving each of the waste management options in order of desirability. This provides a good basis on where to begin thinking about waste management and minimisation.

Waste Management Options in the Waste Management Hierarchy

There are many ways by which a company can implement a waste minimisation strategy and some suggested examples are given below. The company may wish to devise their own.

Suggested strategies to minimise waste

Certain aspects of implementing a waste minimisation strategy are likely to be site and plant specific, although some more generic approaches can be applied.

Generic techniques for waste minimisation can be listed as:

Managing inventories and improving operations

• Listing and tracking all raw materials on site
  
  
• Buying less hazardous materials
  
  
• Introducing training programme and communication from management
  
  
• Improving practices such as dealing with inputs of material, handling and storage
  
  

Undertaking modifications to equipment

• Choosing equipment that generates little/no waste
  
  
• Improve equipment in order to make recycling and recovery more feasible/possible
  
  
• Promote efficiency through looking into the existing design of production lines/equipment to reduce waste
  
  
• Implement a programme of preventative maintenance
  
  

Changes in production processes

• Change, where feasible all hazardous substances for non-hazardous
  
  
• Implement a programme of waste segregation
  
  
• Prevent leaks and spills and check site regularly for thus
  
  
• Utilise raw materials more efficiently
  
  

Reuse and recycling

• Identify opportunities for waste exchange (the DTI's UK Environmental Business Club Directory is a good source for companies/clubs undertaking exchange of wastes)
  
  
• Identify all opportunities for in house recycling for reuse
  
  
• Identify all opportunities for external recycling for reuse
  
  

The main factors characterising a waste minimisation strategy are given below.

The Core Elements of a Waste Minimisation Strategy